In The Shroud of Darkness (Dark Things book 2)
by ForceMagic
Summary: With the galaxy in tatters, Lily is sent back to stop her father's greatest mistake, and hopefully can avoid Sidious in the process. But when do things ever go to plan? Yes, time travel. Isn't that fun? Warnings: Flashbacks/Nightmares, things like that. Bits and pieces may be graphic.
1. Chapter 1

Lily Skywalker was dead. Her body was long gone, disappeared like Kenobi's had, all those years ago.

Yet her presence lingered, as though hanging on desperately by a thread.

Luke-no, Luke was gone. Praedo had taken him over completely when he had plunged the lightsaber into his sister, giving her a fatal wound.

It was strange, how unnatural she looked in death. Perhaps, in death, the once strong, stubborn, resilient girl, wouldn't have looked the broken shell of herself that she had became. The nearly 23 year old had been faded, wilted, and beyond recognition.

Leia looked at the empty spot on the ground. She felt a flash of grief. There was longing, a wish for a what-if life, one where she had known her sister and brother.

But she was gone, and Leia was a Sith. She couldn't afford those thoughts.

Luke looked on at the spot where his sister, once so arrogant, who had turned bold and determined, arrogance fading into confidence as she matured, had died.

"You did well, Praedo." Sidious-his new _master_ \- said. "We must make an announcement. Come." None of them had any choice but to obey. Luke followed numbly. There was regret plaguing his mind. The darkness had overcome him, why, _why_ did he let it take him? Now his sister was dead, gone by his own hand. He had to follow this-this _monster_ blindly, obediently. The only person who had known him completely, thoroughly, in every bit of their lives, had been Lily. Force, they had known each other's darkest secrets, how many freckles were on the other's face when they were little, so alike they would speak at the same time, referred to as the same person, connected long before discovering the Force.

Now the only sibling he had left was a stranger to him, but the two strangers shared one identical thought; No turning back now.

The news of the loss of the Rebellion and Skywalkers spread like wildfire. The supporters mourned, hidden funerals in the streets and underworlds of planets. Stragglers, ones on a mission, away from the ships, regretted accusing the pilots of treason. They may have been the only ones who had enough influence to bring everyone back together to rebuild the rebellion. The Empire jeered, saying the Rebels got what they deserved, all of them. Luke agreed he did, especially after what he had done.

Lily Skywalker was dead, and with her the Rebellion fell.

It was a day of darkness, in more ways than one.

Lily was dead. She knew she was dead. So why did her arms ache, from spending hours hanging by them? Why were her wrists tender, where the cuffs dug in, leaving bruises and scabs? Why was her stomach sore, from where the fatal strike had been placed? Death was supposed to relieve pain.

The Rebellion, Eli, all Jedi, were gone. The leaders died in the fiery death she had felt, causing such a ripple anyone with a speck of sensitivity felt it. Even in the unlikely occurrence that the Rebellion remade itself, only Jedi could take down the Emperor and… and his minions, and she was- had been- the last trained Jedi.

But if she was truly, completely, dead, why did she feel more alive than she had in months?

"Perhaps because finished, your journey is not?" A voice answered her silent question.

"Master Yoda!" She must have been lost in her own mind, or was very out of practice. No one could usually startle her like that. "I-I'm sorry. We should've listened. I should have tried harder, I could've-" Her old green master cut her off with a whack from his ever present stick.

"No. Done you have all you could have." Yoda said. "Beyond your control, young Luke's falling was, and past saving your father became." Another joined the conversation.

"You did everything you could, Lily."

"Ben." Lily whispered. Yet another joined in.

"Even when beaten, you still kept going. That is definitely a trait from your mother." Her father said.

"It is as much from you, Ani."

"Mom. Dad." She whispered. She couldn't hold back a tear as it slipped. She ran to them. They stayed in an embrace. Anakin's robes nearly completely engulfed the two women. "How're you-I thought-" Anakin cut her off.

"When you died, the last bit of me died with you."

"I really failed you then." Lily mumbled.

"No, honey." Padme reassured. "We are so, so proud of you."

"Really." Anakin continued. "You've gone through so many trials, so many in which you came out victorious. It's a miracle you made it this long. So what if this one got the better of you? Like Master Yoda said, your path hasn't ended."

"I'm dead." Lily deadpanned. "Seems pretty ended to me." Anakin and Padme chuckled.

"Just like you, Ani."

"See." Anakin said.

A vision tugged at her eyesight, and she let it come.

It was a familiar room of stone that could have been anything. A conference room, a cellar, just another room in the Imperial Palace. But for her, it held only memories of betrayal, broken bones, pain, and breaking.

On one side, the room held a blonde woman, with hair floating and radiating light. A circle of people surrounded her, dressed in white, on top of the symbol of the Jedi Order.

The other had a man, tattoos on his face, emanating darkness and evil. His circle was in black, on the symbol of the Sith.

The vision shifted.

Now both of them were in the center with her, the people in gray. A new symbol was beneath them, hidden to her eyes. They began to chant.

 _Daughter of the Chosen_

 _Daughter of Light_

 _After the Chosen One_

 _Balances the Force_

 _Peace still eludes_

 _Wars still reign_

 _Light and Dark_

 _Remain divided_

 _The Chosen One_

 _Brought balance_

 _The Unifier  
Must bring peace_

The room dissolved again, replaced with emptiness. The stone walls felt different, the twin holding only darkness. A presence was behind her. She turned around, meeting the face of an old man. She tried to place the face, and failed.

"Who are you?" She asked. He smiled gently, as though she was a small child again.

"I didn't think you'd know me. Many don't know the tale of Mortis, and those who do believe it to be a tale. Very, very few know differently." Lily had heard the name Mortis before, and the tale came back to her.

'A Father, Son, and Daughter. The most powerful Force wielders ever.'

"Oh. Oh." The Father smiled at her again.

"I wondered how long it would be until you joined the Force like this, Lily Skywalker."

"Not by choice." She said. It came out a little more bitter than she had planned. But she was recently dead, she should be allowed a few bitter words.

"No." He agreed. "Just as I am certain you'll never want to be in this room again." Lily's suspicions were confirmed.

"Why are we here?"

"We are in your head. You tell me."

"It's...Familiar. It's vivid. The memories and wounds are still fresh."

"But it's different. You feel it."

"Yes. It hold a different air to it. Friendlier. This is a lesson, isn't it?"

"You are clever. Light and Dark isn't good and evil. You will never be able to get rid of the Dark and evil in the world, more will just rise up in it's place. Combining them, it will be a challenge. You will be challenging the Jedi ideals, challenging everything they know. Good luck, and may the Force be with you, Unifier."

"Wait! What do you mean?" Lily called to no avail. The vision dissipated anyway.

"Something else on your mind there is, young Skywalker." Yoda said when she came back to her senses.

"That sphere, why didn't it work on me? I know for a fact I have more darkness in me than Luke did."

"Full Light nor full Dark can you be. To unite them, both you must have."

"Something else bothering you, young one?" Obi-Wan asked her.

"How did I survive? When I had Luke I was fighting but after he..." Turned. Betrayed me. "I stopped. I know I've died a few times before. But I got a second chance. Why didn't I die there?"

"Kept you alive, Sidious did. Sustain you, the Force can. Used it, you did, and after, Sidious. Dead, he did not want you."

"But that doesn't explain how I was brought back all those other times."

"Your fate is entwined with his." Obi-Wan explained. "If you die, and he still lives, with no other way to defeat him, you have to go back. If he dies first, or there is another way, and you're killed, you are free from that burden. The Unifier legacy is passed to someone else."

"Well, I'm dead now. Did the Force get tired of trying to get me to fix everything?" Anakin smirked at his daughter.

"Succeed first, your father must." Yoda said.

"The Force is taking a different tactic." Anakin said.

"You are going back in time to stop your future."

"Is that a good idea? I might just make it worse, however unlikely it is that there is a universe worse than this one."

"I have faith in you." Anakin told his daughter, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're a Skywalker, you're too stubborn to fail.

"One last thing, how are you...?"

"Here?" Anakin supplied. "Your death was mine too. A child in the Light was the last thing keeping Vader from fully taking over. No one exists to bring me back."

"Then...Luke, Leia...shouldn't they be here too?"

"They have a chance at returning, however unlikely. They were forced into it. Your death affected them both more than you realize." The room began spinning.

"What now?" She asked.

"Now you stop me from making my worst mistake, and save the galaxy in the process."

"So, you know, no pressure or anything." Anakin smiled at her. He couldn't be prouder.

"Good luck." She smirked and caught Obi-Wan's eye.

"No such thing, Father." Obi-Wan smiled too. She disappeared. Anakin's smile faded.

"Worry you must not. Correct you were. Knows she cannot fail, she does." Yoda said.

"What if despite her best efforts, I ignore her and still turn? Still fall?" Yoda didn't sugarcoat his opinion.

"Then fear for the galaxy, I do."

 **A/N: Good? Bad? Both? Are you excited? Because I am!**


	2. Chapter 2

Twenty-three years in the past, Lily Skywalker appeared on a Republic cruiser on its way to Coruscant.

Anakin and Obi-Wan were very much startled at the sight of a random girl appearing in front of them, not to mention the fact that she looked like she walked straight through a war-zone.

"Well Master," Anakin said, "I think we found the cause of that disturbance."

"Yes." Obi-Wan said with a tone of contemplation. "We should get her to the med-bay." Anakin lifted her up.

"She ways as much as a youngling!" What-who- happened to her?"

"We'll ask when she wakes up. I imagine it's quite the story. People don't just appear out of nowhere."

Needless to say, the med-bay had a few awkward questions, and they left with more than they came with. Even Anakin, with all his injuries, _combined,_ couldn't begin to compete with this girl's. The brand on her left rib cage answered one question though. It read _Jedi,_ which told them she was one of them, though she was a total stranger. Obi-Wan asked the droid the most likely reason.

"I believe she has had prolonged exposure the extremely harsh and intense interrogation methods. It is probable from past scarring it may not be the first time she has undergone such methods."

"How long do you think she was held?" Anakin asked.

"The best estimate I have is five months. However, she seems to have been malnourished for a few months before then." The droid said.

"Thank you, Zeetoo. Any estimation on when she wakes?"

"In this bad of state, anywhere from a few hours to never." The two Jedi nodded.

"If she wakes up, how bad do you think she'll be?" Anakin asked concernedly. "She's my age, but still, torture changes you." He remembered a few Jedi he had seen who had been held captive by the Separatists.

"If she's been tortured at least twice, it says she's a fighter. It means she annoyed someone enough to get their attention, and attract them again, or a different group afterwards. She had to have bounced back. But to be tortured that long, and at that level... it's hard to say. It depends on just how much of a fighter she is." He looked at his former padawan. "Why do you care so much?"

"I-I don't know. I feel connected to her, like I know her from somewhere. It's hard to explain."

"Well, she is one big mystery."

 _No, I was supposed to go back in time, not back here, please, anywhere but here..._ Lily thought when she felt cold metal on her wrists and cold stone under her. She stubbornly refused to open her eyes. _Please_. She couldn't move, no matter how hard she struggled. Her panic blossomed into despair when she finally allowed herself to look around. Sidious stood above, leering at her. He swiped with a vibroblade, leaving more gashes on her torso and legs.

 _"Did you_ really _think you could escape me?"_ He hissed. The room shifted. She was standing now. Nameless, faceless bodies littered the ground around her. She was holding a lightsaber. When did she get this? It didn't matter. She ignited it, wanting to defend herself from whoever had done this, but dropped it in shock.

The blade was neither blue, green, or her familiar teal, but instead a blood red. She looked up in horror. Where there was once walls was mirrors, showing her what was once her blue eyes was replaced by a hateful golden yellow with red spidering away from it. These eyes that were now hers was a more vibrant color than any Sith eyes she had ever seen. She turned around, unable to look at her reflection, only to find the bodies had faces. Familiar ones.

Luke, Ava, Eli, Han, even Ava and everyone in the Rebellion she had so much as said hello to were on the floor. Dead. Because of her.

Sidious appeared behind her, nails digging into her shoulders.

 _"You can't escape your destiny."_ He whispered. The grip tightened. She winced. _"You can't escape who you are meant to be."_ A knife was brought to her neck, and sliced.

Lily woke up with a gasp clutching her throat.

"Oh, you're awake." A droid in the corner said. "I should inform Generals Kenobi and Skywalker." The droid left. Lily sat up, ignoring the shooting pain in her chest as she did so, and swung her legs to the side of the bed facing the door.

The room was very plain. A viewport was behind her, a workstation for the med-droids and any other medics was in front of the beds, which had curtains separating them. It was empty except for her. She examined herself.

Most of her injuries remained, though some were a little more healed than they had been. However, her hair and clothing, of all things, was in its original state.

 _Good to know the Force knows what's important._ She chuckled humorlessly. The door opened. The first man that entered had auburn hair, almost like her's, but her's was darker with chestnut colored hints. It was Obi-Wan. A much younger, much happier Obi-Wan. The other Lily knew straight away with his blonde hair and blue eyes, and the fact she had seen him a couple times already. Her father.

"Easy, there." Obi-Wan said. "You have quite the list of injuries. We didn't expect you awake for a while."

"You should rest, still. Do you know the extent of your injuries?" Anakin lectured. The action was so... Parently. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"I'm pretty sure, yes. I did receive all of them. But just to check, let's see." She started feeling her ribs. "All of my ribs are broken, fractured, and or bruised. They're healing fine. I've got about a hundred thousand cuts all over, and a few more thousand bruises. All of the bones in my arms and legs have been broken. I've been electrocuted a _lot_ , and burned as much, not even including the brand. That's probably not even all of it. So yes, I do know how bad my wounds are." She sighed. "I'm sorry, that was...way harsher than I intended. I gather you have a ton of questions, so go ahead. I'll answer as many as I can without... whatever that was."

"What _happened?_ " Obi-Wan asked. Lily raised an eyebrow. "Besides the obvious?"

"Well," Lily started nervously, running a hand absentmindedly through her hair, "I made an Empire very angry. Then got caught by said Empire's second-in-command. And being tortured for five months kinda helped everything along."

"Five _months_? A Sith Lord? Empire? How?" Anakin demanded.

"I died. Wasn't allowed to sit back and watch the galaxy burn, and was instead sent back through time to stop a thing. A thing that I am unable to say at the present moment."

"So, you're a Jedi from the future?" Anakin asked disbelievingly.

"If you want to oversimplify it, yes."

"How long have you been training?" Obi-Wan asked. Lily frowned, thinking.

"Off and on for a few years. A war and everything got in the way."

"I doubt that," Anakin said skeptically. "You would have been, what, eighteen?"

"Nineteen, actually."

"Still," Obi-Wan interjected. "The Jedi should have found you. Much sooner."

"They didn't want to take me at nine, and you started at nineteen?"

"The Jedi didn't exist anymore. There wasn't much of a choice. My brother and I were the only ones who had that potential. And even if everything fell to pieces, I like to think we set it up for someone to come along and finish it." Lily said. Why was she getting so... Emotional? She should be in better control than this.

"What happened to the Order?"

"I-" Lily hesitated. "I don't know everything. I don't know how much to say, what'll make my future worse... All I'll say now is that everything is replaced with a Sith Empire. The destruction of the Jedi is the first thing it does."

"But there's more, isn't there?" Anakin pressed.

"A lot more. But I barely know the half of it, and the Force is telling me to wait on a lot of what I do know."

"What can you say?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Not much."

"Well, the more we know the better." Anakin said.

"I am going to throw that back in your face later. But for now, yes."

She told them as much as she could, about the Republic's fall, Darth Vader's rise, her lineage, Ruby, without saying she was her sister, Luke, without mentioning him falling, the Emperor, the Empire, all while avoiding the more sensitive topics and the names. She didn't even begin to hint that her father was a Jedi, but she mentioned breaking into the Jedi Temple to steal holocrons, at which they both started choking.

"How did you break in? I imagine that they wouldn't like anyone in there." Obi-Wa

"I made a decision and just started running before I had time to regret it."

"Did you?" Anakin asked.

"Right after? Hell yeah. I had a ton of stormtroopers on me and I wasn't that great in that sort of situation, and was eventually caught. It wasn't hard to affiliate me with the Alliance afterwards. But now? No. It helped me learn, and I think it helped a lot of other people in the end too." Lily lowered her voice. "Sometimes you have to do something, and deal with the consequences, whatever it may be. Or just go with your crazy impulses and hope for the best. Or both." Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at her incredulously. Here was this girl, going against basically everything in the Code, and still being one of the most Jedi Jedi they had ever met.

She finished the story she could tell, and it was a solid forty seconds before the two men could say anything.

"So- it- wow." Obi-Wan said finally.

"How did two Sith outsmart and beat all the Jedi?"

"I don't know. From what I know, it was a plan that had been forming for a very long time, and kept under so many false suspicions it caught the Council off guard. They might have had help, too. There's a lot I don't know. It's not something they teach in schools."

"So, why send you here, now? Wouldn't it make more sense to send you somewhere closer to the point of annihilation?" Anakin said.

"No. My job here is to make sure my future doesn't happen. At all, ever. Which means being sure that the threat is not a threat."

"If the entire Order couldn't, how do you know you will?" Obi-Wan asked her.

"Because I know what'll happen if I don't. I know what's at stake. I've seen it and experienced it. I know it can get worse if I fail."

"Why take you to us? Why not to Coruscant?" Anakin asked.

"You're both a very big part of this. Practically at the center the entire time." Lily smirked at the confusion on their faces, though she felt slightly bad. She hated cryptic answers as well. "Sorry, but saying more would ruin the surprise."

"Something tells me I'm not going to like this surprise." Anakin said.

"What level training do you have? Even if you only have had a few years, you must be a big threat."

"I'm told I am, but last time I was in a lightsaber fight I got humiliated pretty quickly. I've trained a little since, and I'm supposed to be able to have this grand story, but my threateningness isn't with a lightsaber, it seems." She shrugged. "Besides, I'm not at full power at the moment with this," she gestured to her injuries. "And I'm not even sure if I'm at full potential yet, either."

"Well, no matter what, when we get back, the Council is going to want to question you, and depending on that outcome, get you trained more."

"Why are we going to Coruscant?" She asked. It would give her a good idea of how much time she had.

"Chancellor was kidnapped. Why?" Anakin inquired.

"Seeing how long I have to save the universe."

"Well, You have twenty-five hours to sleep. Use it." Anakin smiled. "Good night, Lily." He said, using the name she had provided during her explanation. He walked out of the room and closed the door.

"Goodnight, Father." She whispered softly, before lying down and being taken by sleep.

 **A/N: How do you like it so far? I've decided updates will be once a week on Sunday.**


	3. Chapter 3

When Lily opened her eyes, she saw that same cursed room. It was almost getting repetitive, save for a sight that nearly knocked her back into reality.

Luke. Pure, golden, light, Luke. He was alive. Had the last several months just been erased? All of the suffering, just gone? Had it been a dream, a vision, or a warning? But it didn't matter. Luke was here. It felt like every problem caused... ever was fixed. A wave of Darkness made her shudder. Almost every problem. Sidious was still there. He walked in and towered over her brother, who had made an effort to give himself a small shred of height by supporting himself on his arm. She realized he looked as bad as she had in her final months. Sidious' gaze never met her's.

"Today is your last day I will offer it to you. Join the Dark Side." Sidious demanded. Luke made sure his eyes met Sidious' hateful ones.

"Go. To. Hell." Luke spat back. His voice was quiet and hoarse, but strong and defiant.

"Suit yourself." Sidious moved. They both knew his mannerisms. They braced themselves.

Luke's shouts and cries echoed around, but no blow ever came to her.

"No! " She screeched. "No! Please!"

Her pleas fell on deaf ears. Neither of them even glanced in her direction once. She finally understood.

This wasn't real. Not for her. She was only there enough to see, not to be seen, not to help, not to save. She was completely powerless.

"You know," Sidious hissed. "If you had been the one killed by that artifact, I wouldn't have given the same option to your sister. You should feel lucky, I'm being generous." He electrocuted him again. "Join me."

"Never." It came out as barely a whisper.

"Then I have no further use for you." Sidious reached for something inside his robes. No. No. Lily thought desperately. A red lightsaber pierced through her brother, who let out one more jagged, gasping shout.

"NO!" She screamed.

Lily had always thought death would have been kinder than making Luke into an emotionless tool. But it wasn't, not like this, in pain and alone, right before her eyes. She tried to run to him, to be there for him, but couldn't move. "Please. I can't let him die alone." She whispered. Not like me.

It was too late by the time she was allowed to move again. He was gone. A sob wracked through her, and tears pricked at her eyes. This final chance had been ripped from her. She was alone again.

She felt falling, and opened her eyes to a new location, not unlike the one she had found herself in upon dying. White, warm, with neverending light.

"Hey, Skywalker." A voice said behind her. She turned around.

"Han." She ran to him and nearly knocked him over. "How're you here?"

"You're magical Force decided to make me pay you a visit."

"Thought you didn't believe." She teased.

"Please." Han scoffed. "Hanging with you and Luke threw the option of disbelief out the window years ago." Lily's elated smile vanished.

"Look, Han, I'm-"

"Don't you even try to apologize." He interrupted. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known that Vader would do that. I know you were warned. I probably know as much as you do now. You did what any good friend worth keeping around would do, and it just didn't work the way it was supposed to." He pulled her into a hug, like the ones she would get as a child. "Ava was wrong. All of the Rebellion was." Lily's eyes filled with tears again.

"I failed them, just like I failed you and Luke."

"There was nothing you could have done that you didn't try. You tried to make them see sense, and they didn't. You tried to bring Luke back, but that artifact had to strong of a hold on him."

"I never got to say goodbye. I never- I didn't-" She cried. "I didn't think it would end like this. End with me alone and clueless."

"You'll figure it out. You always have." He reassured, then smirked lightly. "Besides, who said anything about being alone?" He pulled away and started to fade.

"No. Please don't leave me." She whispered. "I don't want to go back."

Lily woke up with a tear stained face. She checked the holo-clock on the wall. Nineteen hours to go. She chuckled humorlessly. Six hours of sleep when she hadn't slept more than a one or two for months was wonderful.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, she sat up, once again ignoring the shooting pain in her side, wiped her face of all her emotions she'd rather not get asked about, put on her shoes that were on the floor, and walked out the door, not entirely sure why.

The hallways were mostly empty, save for a few patrols that passed her, but no sign of her father or former mentor. She walked aimlessly, thoughts on her vision with Han. She felt a twinge of frustration. She thought she was recovering from that. Recovering from losing him, and then this happens. And Han's words 'Who said anything about being alone?' What did that even mean? Did it have something to do with the vision about Luke?

If he was there, he would probably want her to be angry with him. It would be easier, and maybe the constant hole in her chest would be filled, but she couldn't. She shuddered. Luke's screams and cries had become familiar to her as her own by Sidious' hand. They fled through her mind again. She was almost glad whenever Luke had been tortured, she had too. Seeing Luke in that much pain, watching the life flee from his eyes and dying alone would have broken her, no question. Lily wished she could have been there for him, given him some form of comfort, anything to keep him from dying just as she had. A tear she hadn't noticed forming fell from her eye.

She stumbled suddenly. The world began to spin, and everything went black. A shout rang through her mind, clear as her own thoughts.

"Lily, no!"

No, not again, please. Lily begged to the Force. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

It was the same room, as always, with the device that had destroyed everything. But it wasn't. It looked different.

"Do you know what this is?" He showed this alternate Luke and Lily the device. They stayed silent. "No? It is an artifact that reacts with the light in Jedi. The pain increases with the amount of light in them. It has been known to kill Jedi, and if it doesn't-" He lowered his voice and hissed, "You'll wish you were. I will give you one chance before I let it do its work. Join the Dark Side, and serve me." The alternate Luke and Lily met his eyes.

"No." They said together. The hateful eyes burned with rage.

It was amazing how a simple word could invoke that much fury in the Sith, leaving him almost blind to everything else.

Almost.

A girl with brown hair and eyes that had changed from gold snuck up behind him. Her siblings kept a straight face as she went behind her former master. A red blade stuck out from her chest in moments. Leia, not Ruby, dropped to the floor.

Vader jumped from the shadows. Both Lilys and Luke tensed, but he stood protectively in front of his remaining children. Sidious pressed a button on the device, and Vader charged. Sidious used the device on his apprentice. He died instantly with little more than a shout. Sidious pressed the button again.

"It also has an instant death switch. Very helpful in some cases, as your father helped demonstrate. Now there's no one left to save you." He turned the device on them. She could see the small difference now; the other had stripes of black, while this one had stripes of gray.

She watched helplessly as her other self and brother thrashed and screamed. Her cries died out.

Finally, it stopped. Luke was panting, but Lily was still. Far too still. Luke crawled to her.

"Lily." His voice was hoarse from screaming. He shook her gently. "Lily." No response. He felt for her pulse with shaking hands, afraid of what he wouldn't find. "Lily, no. Please. I promised you I'd get us both out. I promised." Tears formed in his eyes. "Don't make me a liar. Lily." The tears fell freely, accompanied by breaths that could have been silent sobs.

Those words were familiar. She remembered when she lost him. She had also pleaded to no one in particular, using those same words. Reminded him of the same promise, as he mercilessly threw punches and kicks.

Lily felt unsettled, and it wasn't from watching herself die. Luke never cried. He got upset, he got angry and sad, but never shed a tear.

The worst similarity was the fact that he never got a chance to say goodbye either.

Death was an ever-present threat. Pilots didn't have a long life expectancy, though theirs might have been easier to escape because they were wanted alive. But they had both expected to have a few seconds to say goodbye to each other.

Lily. Lily, come on. Lily. A voice was calling her in the present reality. She blinked, and the horrors of the darkness faded away.

Anakin was rounding a corner when Lily randomly collapsed in the hallway.

"Lily, no!" He ran to her. "Lily." He shook her gently. "Come on, Lily." He shook her slightly harder. "Lily." She blinked open her eyes to get used to the sudden light. "You blacked out." He told her.

"Really, I hadn't noticed." She said dryly. He chuckled. "How long?"

"Just a few seconds. Long enough to scare the crap out of me. Why are you awake? You should be resting." Lily shrugged.

"I couldn't. And I got a feeling. Why're you?"

"Got a feeling, and I couldn't sleep much either. I was heading to the cafeteria. When was the last time you had a proper meal?"

"I don't think you want me to answer that." Anakin rolled his eyes.

"When was the last time you had more than a few bites of food?"

"You don't want me to answer that either."

"Oh for Force's- Come on."

They walked in a comfortable silence for what Lily could have sworn was half the ship's distance. It seemed every time she thought they had to be close, there was more. A large disturbance nearly made Lily pass out again.

"Are you alright?" Anakin asked concernedly.

"Fine. What was that?" Lily asked.

"I have no idea. It felt like when you-" Lily didn't hear the rest. She felt a familiar presence, and perked up, standing a little straighter.

"That's not possible. But maybe it is. I'm here, after all, it makes sense he could..."

"Lily? Lily, what's going on?" Anakin's voice snapped her out of her daze.

"I think... maybe... my... he might be here, somehow. Got sent back, too..." Still muttering incoherently to herself, she ran off.

"Been here for a day and already causes trouble, I see." Obi-Wan said from behind him. "Reminds me of someone."

"We should probably follow her. Make sure she doesn't hurt herself." Anakin said, and took off in the vague direction Lily had. Obi-Wan sighed.

"Like a mini Anakin, I swear." He followed the previous two's path.

Lily couldn't think straight. She had felt him. She knew she had, and was following his presence. She didn't dare get her hopes up, for it could have just been her imagination. But her heart began beating faster in anticipation, and fell to her knees when she found him.

"Luke." She whispered. He looked as he had when she saw him die in her dream. No, it was a vision. A vision of an alternate path.

His blond hair was dirty and caked with dried blood. He was unhealthily thin, and had dark circles under his eyes, and bruises all around his face.

"Oh, Luke." He shifted and hissed at the pain, but remained unconscious. She had no doubts he needed it. "It's okay, you're safe now. It's over. We made it through. We made it." She heard loud footsteps. It was her father and Obi-Wan.

"What the... who is that?" Anakin asked her.

"My brother." She said quietly, but couldn't help a smile spreading across her face. He was alive. They were both alive, and together. Finally.

"Well, he needs a med-bay. We still have quite a bit of time before we reach Coruscant, he might wake up before then." Obi-Wan said. Lily only nodded. Anakin lifted Luke as he had done with Lily, and walked to the med-bay.

It was going to be a long day.

A/N: Adding Luke back in made me rewrite almost everything, but I think it's going to make it better in the long run. Also, I'm trying to make longer chapters, and shooting for 25-30 chapters in all for this book. How was this chapter? I'm loving all the feedback.

Bye!


	4. Chapter 4

Lily didn't leave his side. Anakin and Obi-Wan had to bring her food and water or caf, which she accepted gratefully before returning her attention to Luke.

It was six hours before he woke up. Lily wished he had slept longer, but she understood. She didn't want to sleep even knowing she was in a safe location. Thankfully, she was alone and could answer some of the questions he had in full.

"Lily? But how? You died." He paused for a moment as if realizing the last hours of his life. "I died."

"Yeah. Doesn't seem to stay though." Lily said.

"Where are we?" Luke asked.

"When is going to be an easier question to answer. We are approximately twenty-three years in the past, en route to Coruscant."

"Why, of all things, would the Force send us here?" Lily grinned.

"Congratulations, you have now been added to the Save The Galaxy team. As of now, we are the only two, and in the beginning stages of operation Save Father Before He Kriffs Up The Galaxy. End date is uncertain." Luke grinned back.

"Even in death, we can't seem to get a break."

"Please. We'll probably be doing this when we're eighty."

"Probably." Luke agreed. "So, wanna fill me in?"

Lily did so. On everything. She excluded her newfound destiny and his falling, instead replacing it with his death, and being careful about the rest of her story.

"Okay. I thought nothing could surprise me anymore, but I think you found the one thing that could."

"It's weirder to you than me. I've had time to figure most of it out."

"When did the first memories or whatever start?"

"Bespin." Lily confessed. "It was all at once, like a mass vision. But most of it was things that already could have happened, except for one that was completely impossible. Then it was times where I heard a name or something, and a different version of me had met them. Or at other major points in life, where I'd suddenly know what would happen if I made a certain choice. It felt random at points, but it wasn't."

"What about now?"

"Nothing. It's just what I already know."

"So," Luke lowered his voice. "How do we save him?"

Lily was clueless about that, too.

Anakin and Obi-Wan had been watching the pair off and on while they traveled the last bit of distance to Coruscant. They had joked and laughed, and the silence only came when there was nothing left to say. They just enjoyed the other's presence when that came.

But Anakin hadn't missed the sadness in the siblings' eyes, nor the looks given when one was turned away. Each of them was so afraid of losing the other again. Lily kept twisting the ring on her finger.

Eventually, the boy, Luke, Anakin remembered, was allowed to leave the med-bay, and Anakin led them to the cafeteria for something to eat. He looked like Lily in that area.

"Lily, that ring. You didn't have that in my time period or whatever its called." Luke interrogated, waving a fork at her.

"Eli gave it to me through a vision somehow."

"To make up for not having one when proposing?" Lily chuckled.

"Something like that. I was also dying at the time. So either he found a way to induce a vision out of sheer stubbornness or the Force tried to give me something to fight for."

"Did it work?" Lily smiled and twisted the ring a little.

"Very well."

"You were-are- engaged? But attachments aren't allowed in the Order." Anakin asked. He of all people should know.

"I was. I know they are, there was information on that in the holocrons, but there were things I didn't agree with, and we were the only two Jedi in any state to do something, so no no one was going to complain too much about it." Lily said.

"Master Yoda tried." Luke said.

"Briefly. Training happened anyway." Lily reminisced. Anakin shook his head at their antics.

"Do you two always get into so much trouble?"

"Yes." They both replied and a sad smile spread across their faces.

It was only a little while after that alarms signaling they were coming out of hyperspace shortly went off. Squad after squad of clones ran passed, while Luke and Lily searched frantically for the other two Jedi. They quite literally ran into them.

"Oh, there you are. Can you fly?" Anakin asked.

"Yes." Luke answered.

"Perfect." Obi-Wan said. "You'll be in fighters behind us for the rescue mission."

"Stay close." Anakin ordered them. "I'm aware the two of you are perfectly capable, but you are now our responsibility. And you're injured. Understand?"

"Perfectly." Lily answered.

"This way." Obi-Wan said. They rushed off toward the hangar.

Two extra ships were prepared, and Anakin pointed them out.

"Those are yours. Sorry, but you'll have to be without a droid on this one."

They all rushed to their respective fighters and hopped inside.

"Remember you two, stay close." Anakin reminded, sounding more and more like an overprotective parent. They took off.

Lily felt the exhilaration of the flight and couldn't help but let out a breathy laugh.

"All good there?" Luke asked with amusement. Lily's grin broadened.

"The best." Anakin chuckled.

"How long has it been since you've flown?"

"A starfighter? Far too long. A freighter? Also far too long." Lily replied. Obi-Wan was having issues, as the Separatists released their droid fighters.

"Flying is for droids." He muttered angrily.

The battle seemed so similar to the first one Luke and Lily had been in.

"See that big ship up ahead? The one crawling with buzz droids?" Anakin asked. The others acknowledged him. "That's General Grevious' ship. Chances are, Dooku is with them."

"Explains the Dark feel." Lily muttered to no one in particular.

"Luke, Lily," Obi-Wan said, his voice suddenly serious, "If we engage them, stay back."

"We don't want you hurt or killed." Anakin explained.

"To a point, fine." Lily argued.

"If the two of you need help, don't expect us to sit around." Luke explained his sister's reasoning. realizing he wouldn't win, Anakin agreed. He didn't think it would get that bad anyways.

"Fair."

The battle had been going easy, only a few droids got in the way. That was, until Lily realized she absolutely despised buzz droids, as several of them were released. Luke, Lily, and Anakin all managed to avoid them, but Obi-Wan wasn't so lucky.

"I'm hit!" He called.

"We see them" Obi-Wan's droid got its head ripped off.

"Stay still." Anakin told Obi-Wan.

"What're you-" Obi-Wan was cut off by Anakin tried to hit the droids with laser fire.

"Hold your fire! Not helping!" Obi-Wan said.

"I agree, bad idea." Anakin conceded.

"Plan B?" Lily suggested desperately. Anakin thought for a moment and pulled his fighter's wing under Obi-Wan's.

"Artoo, hit the buzz droid center eye." Artoo did so. "Alright, stay under my wing, pull up nice and easy..."

"Well, have you noticed the shields are still up?"

"Whoops. I got it." Luke said and hit the control panel. They crashed in the hangar. They quickly climbed out of the wreckage.

"Hey, Luke, doesn't this remind you of that mission when-?" Luke cut her off.

"Lily. We agreed to never speak of it again. Ever." Luke groaned. Lily grinned, though it quickly disappeared when she felt two Dark presences. One of them being very, very familiar.

"I sense Count Dooku." Anakin said darkly.

"I sense a trap." Obi-Wan countered.

"Do we need a new plan?" Luke asked.

"Did we have a plan?" Lily replied.

"No, and no." Obi-Wan said.

"So, what now?" Anakin asked, fake worry seeping into his face.

"We spring the trap." Obi-Wan said, smiling.

"Good plan." Lily said.

"Yes. Because it always goes well." Luke said sarcastically.

"Hey, it always works out. Name one time-"

"When we had a mission on Coruscant shortly after joining the Rebellion. And you decided to break into the Jedi Temple."

"I got what I had come for!"

"You were captured and interrogated for a week and a half before we could get to you!"

"That's one time!"

"I can think of three more."

"We haven't done that plan more than three times!"

"Yes. Yes, we have. And I warn you. And you don't listen." Anakin and Obi-Wan watched in amusement before Artoo beeped that he had found the Chancellor.

"Alright, you two. Come on. Artoo, stay here." They walked to an elevator and got inside.

"Drop your weapons! I said drop 'em!" A droid commanded. Lily rolled her eyes, and the Jedi made quick work of them.

After a few minutes, the elevator stopped working.

"Did you press the stop button?" Obi-Wan asked.

"No." Luke, Lily, and Anakin all said.

"Did you?" Anakin asked his former master.

"No."

"Well," Anakin looked up. "There's more than one way out of here." He ignited his lightsaber and cut a hole in the ceiling. He jumped up.

"What, you aren't going to follow?" Luke teased.

"Nope. Tried that. Didn't work very well."

"You did try once, didn't you? Forgot about that."

"I tried a few times. To be safe." Obi-Wan and Luke rolled their eyes.

"Artoo? Activate elevator 31174." Obi-Wan commanded the droid. It took a few minutes, but the elevator gave a jolt and went down. "No, Artoo. We need to go up!" Again, the droid's reaction was slow, but it came to a stop, throwing the three Jedi to the ground before going the correct direction. Anakin jumped in, and Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber instinctively. "Oh, it's you." He said.

"What was all that about?" Anakin asked.

"Well, Artoo has been..." Anakin cut Obi-Wan off almost immediately.

"Ah ah ah, no loose wire jokes." Luke and Lily watched the pair.

"Did I say anything?"

"He's trying!"

"I didn't say anything!" Obi-Wan defended.

Luke and Lily only laughed.

 **A/N: *SO MUCH SCREAMING* I am so sorry this was published weird, but it's all fixed now, I hope.**


	5. Chapter 5

They exited the elevator to an open room, where the Chancellor sat in a chair, stun cuffs on both hands. Luke made little reaction to the sight, and his thoughts were covered much better than Lily's.

Anakin watched Lily as she visibly stiffened and feelings of hurt, pain, and sadness from memories dark enough to rival that of anyone's. He reached out to her, surprised to find a strong bond already forming. He pressed gently. She smiled back at him to reassure him that everything was fine. She shot a glance to Luke, whose expression had not changed. She relaxed.

The group of four walked to the Chancellor and bowed.

"Chancellor." Obi-Wan greeted.

"Are you alright?" Anakin asked the man. Lily frowned mentally.

Can they not feel the Dark Side radiating from him? She asked Luke.

"Count Dooku." Palpatine said quietly.

We might just be so used to it, and he's probably covering it from the Jedi Order. Luke said back. We'll have to wait.

The elevator opened, and a man Luke and Lily assumed to be this Count stepped out.

"This time we will do it together." Obi-Wan whispered to Anakin.

"I was about to say that." Anakin whispered back. Dooku jumped down to their level.

"Get help, you're no match for him, he's a Sith Lord!" Palpatine said. Lily resisted an urge to punch his face.

"Chancellor Palpatine, Sith Lords are our specialty." Obi-Wan reassured him. Anakin and Obi-Wan threw off their cloaks.

"Is all the drama necessary?" Lily muttered. Luke let out a short laugh, and the other two Jedi glared at her.

"Stay. There." Anakin said.

"Okay, okay!" Luke and Lily said simultaneously and raised their hands in mock defeat. Anakin rolled his eyes.

"Your swords, please, Master Jedi, we don't want to make a mess in front of the Chancellor."

"You won't get away this time, Dooku." Obi-Wan sounded almost angry.

"I've been looking forward to this." The Sith said, looking from Anakin to Obi-Wan, with barely a glance to the two siblings behind them.

"My powers have doubled since the last time we met, Count." Anakin declared arrogantly.

"Good. Twice the pride, double the fall." Dooku goaded.

Not this time. Lily thought bitterly. Dooku attacked first, causing his opponents to fall back.

"Your movements are clumsy, Kenobi. Predictable. You'll have to do better."

They fought, and Luke and Lily decided it was one of the coolest things they had ever seen.

The fight was lightning-fast, with pure skill and faith in the Force on both sides. Dooku managed to get the better of Obi-Wan and flung him across the room, leaving him unconscious and stuck under fallen pieces of metal.

Anakin's anger was growing far too fast for any sort of comfort.

Lily no. Luke said, already knowing what she was thinking.

He's getting too close to the Dark Side. You can either stay back or help. She told him.

She rushed in, much to Anakin and Dooku's surprise.

"Oh, this is interesting. One of those little ones thinks you need help." Dooku taunted.

"Or maybe I'm just really tired of not doing anything." Lily countered.

Lily, what are you doing? Anakin asked through the steadily growing bond.

You needed to take a breath. Don't let your anger get the best of you. Lily returned. Anakin took her advice and was instantly calmer.

Thanks. He said. Lily said nothing in return, and they pressed harder against Dooku's blade.

"Oh, for Force's sake." Luke swore under his breath and ran in as well. "Just so you know, stupidest plan ever." He told Lily.

"And here you are, helping it along." She smirked back.

"Don't remind me." Luke groaned.

The pair bantering caused Dooku to become distracted, giving Anakin the only opportunity he needed. In one move, he sliced off both the Sith's hands. Dooku gave a cry of shock and pain. Luke and Lily gave an involuntary wince of sympathy. They knew just what losing a limb felt like. Dooku fell to his knees and Anakin caught the falling red lightsaber. The two blades were crossed at the fallen Sith's neck.

"Good, Anakin good!" Palpatine said with traces of laughter. It left as quickly as it came. "Kill him. Kill him now."

"I shouldn't" Anakin sounded conflicted.

"He needs to stand trial." Lily agreed. Luke nodded.

"He doesn't deserve a trial. Anakin, do it!" The last words were said with a growl that neither sibling could hide their flinch at.

"Maybe not." Luke compromised. "But there has to be order, and trials are part of that, deserved or not. If we don't, we are no better." Anakin nodded, and turned of the blades.

"Come on." He grumbled to Dooku." One of you get Obi-Wan. The other, stay with him." Lily moved toward Dooku, while Luke moved the fallen metal to get to the older Jedi.

"You should have killed him." Palpatine tried to scold.

"He is an unarmed prisoner. He poses no threat. Luke was right, the one thing that differentiates us from the Separatists is our morals and Code." Palpatine cursed the two children silently. He had to figure out who they were.

The ship shifted. The group went to the elevator to find it unusable. Anakin couldn't get a response from Artoo.

"Elevator shaft it is." Lily said.

"I thought you said it didn't end well." Luke teased.

"Well," Lily was in fake thought. "I've never tried it going down."

"You're unbelievable." Luke shook his head.

"I try." Lily smiled innocently. They climbed into the empty shaft. They climbed for a while, before Obi-Wan woke, and jumped slightly while on Luke's back.

"Easy, there. We're in a bit of a situation." Anakin said.

"Did I miss something?" He asked, taking in his surrounding and the hand-less Sith.

"A little, yeah." Lily said. "Relax, I think we're almost to the next floor. We can get out of this- here." They jumped out.

"Note to self, never, ever leave without a get out plan." Obi-Wan grumbled.

"Where's the fun in that?" Luke sounded sarcastic, Lily and Anakin serious. Obi-Wan looked at them weirdly.

"Since when did you two become mini Anakins?" He asked. They just laughed.

The path was very clear. Lily frowned.

"What is it?" Luke asked.

"This is too easy." Suddenly, shimmering blue surrounded them.

"Just had to say something, didn't you?" Luke muttered. Lily swatted his arm.

"Ray shields." Obi-Wan announced.

"How did this happen? We're smarter than this." Anakin asked rhetorically.

"Apparently not." Lily said dryly. Battle droids came around the corner. 

"Don't worry. Artoo will show." Artoo skidded around the corner with a shriek. "See? No problem." The droid hit a wall, and was kicked over by one of the larger droids.

"No problem, huh?" Obi-Wan said.

 **A/N: I am so sorry I missed last week. Life has been kicking me around lately and I'm getting very busy. To make up for it, I'm going to try to get another chapter done for a doub** **le update.**

 **Bye!**


	6. Chapter 6

The group, minus Dooku who had his binds removed, were bound and led to the Command Center of the ship.

"This is way too much of a familiar situation, Lily. You realize that?" Luke said.

"I didn't do anything!" Lily defended.

"Not yet. I know that face. That's your planning face."

"Are you two ever serious in this sort of issue?"

"Sometimes," Lily said. "If things get really bad." The other three Jedi rolled their eyes.

They reached the Command Center. A half-droid general called Grevious was waiting.

"General Kenobi, the Negotiator. That wasn't much of a rescue." He said.

"That depends on your point of view." Obi-Wan challenged.

"And Anakin Skywalker," Grevious ignored Obi-Wan. "I was expected someone with your reputation to be a little...older."

"General Grevious. You're shorter than I expected." Anakin said. Luke and Lily made a noise somewhere between a snort and a laugh and hid it behind a cough.

"Jedi scum!" The general snarled. "Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection." Luke counted. Four. Lily caught his eye and winked.

"Not this time. And this time, you won't escape." Obi-Wan challenged.

"Artoo." Anakin said shortly. Artoo let out a string of beeps, whistles, and various distractions. Lily cut her bonds with her remaining lightsaber and the four Jedi caught their respective blades.

"Crush them! Make them suffer!" Lily held back an eye roll. Honestly, that threat was so boring. The battle droids surrounded them. They opened fire and the four Jedi easily deflected the shots. Two guards with electro staffs approached Anakin and Obi-Wan. They engaged in a battle between them, leaving the rest of the droids to the sibling pair, back-to-back.

"Lily, your excitement is distracting." Luke said.

"Well, sorry," she said, a space between the two syllables of sorry. "Adrenaline is kicking in, and it has been _so_ long since we've been in a fight like this."

"That's- usually a good thing," Luke responded. They began turning in a circle. "Except for you."

"Shut up."

Dooku had remained by Grevious through it all, staying in a circle of safety caused by the ongoing fight. But he hadn't noticed the subtle movement of Palpatine, giving the order of eliminating the Sith Apprentice. A blaster bolt, not out of place enough to call it anything but unfortunate placing and getting caught in the crossfire came to him, and hit Dooku straight on. The Sith fell.

Lily, facing Palpatine at the time, saw the satisfaction crossing his face and felt a shiver of anger trail through her. She calmed herself immediately. They couldn't afford to let Palpatine know they knew about him.

Unluckily for her, if there was one thing to learn from tricking Jedi, it was how to tell when they lose their composure. Palpatine had seen the girl stiffen walking in before relaxing, had noticed her keeping an eye of wariness on him, and had felt the small amounts of anger wave of her before they abruptly stopped.

No, that girl knew something, and Palpatine was willing to bet that brother of hers did too.

They had to be taken care of, soon. Or maybe...

Maybe they could speed up his plan.  
***

The droids were easy enough to take care of. The only problem now was Grevious. But he was nothing if not a coward, albeit a crafty one. He broke the viewport glass, sending the droid remains flying out with the general, and Jedi and Chancellor alike holding on for dear life before the blast shields went up, and they dropped to the floor.

"Do you know how to fly this thing?" Obi-Wan asked Anakin.

"You mean, land what's left of it?" Anakin retorted.

"Well?"

"Under the circumstances, I think the ability to pilot this is irrelevant. Strap yourselves in." The other four obeyed. More and more pieces of the ship fell off, and a large part followed.

"I think we lost something." Luke said.

"Not to worry, we're still flying half a ship." Obi-Wan said with fake cheerfulness.

"Flying-ish." Lily said. "Key part of that is _ish."_

"Hold that, keep us level." Anakin ordered. Luke went for what he was pointing to.

"We're in the atmosphere." Obi-Wan said. They came closer to the landing pad, where firespeeders were waiting. The ship landed, or closer to it, crashed, and skid along the ground. It slowed to a spot. "Another happy landing."

The four Jedi let out a breathy laugh. Palpatine looked close to fainting. Anakin and Obi-Wan went toward different ships.

"Aren't you coming, Master?" Anakin asked.

"Oh, no. I'm not brave enough for politics. I need to report to the Council, and someone has to be the poster boy."

"Hang on, this whole thing was your idea."

"Anakin, let's be fair. Today, you were the hero. You deserve the day with the politicians."

"Alright. But you owe me, and not for saving your skin for the tenth time." Anakin teased.

"Ninth time. That business on Cato Nemoidia _doesn't_ count."

"Whatever you say, Master. Luke, Lily, come with me." The two shuffled awkwardly behind Anakin.  
***

Anakin and Bail Organa, whose introduction nearly made Lily pass out because that was _Ava's father,_ had been talking when suddenly Anakin excused himself. Luke and Lily followed.

"No, you two go elsewhere..."

"Anakin." Lily interrupted.

"If it's about... _her_ , we already know. Time travel, remember?" Luke continued. Anakin sputtered.

"What- oh, just please, _please_ keep it quiet."

"Planning on it." Lily confirmed. Anakin ran off again, and the siblings watched sadly as their parents reunited, and slightly uncomfortable at feeling the three unborn children's Force presence. After a while, Anakin came back.

"Alright, well you need a place to stay anyway, so if you don't mind sharing a room, Padme is okay with you staying at her apartment when need be."

"You don't have to-" Lily began.

"I know we don't," a woman with chocolate curly hair and warm brown eyes interrupted. "But I want to, and Anakin says the two of you need someplace less crowded than the Jedi Temple." That took Luke and Lily by surprise.

"Okay, maybe this is something we should have figured out," Luke admitted. "Thank you."

"It's no problem."

 _Lily, you seem so uncomfortable._ Luke told her.

 _Maybe because that's our mother. Our MOTHER._ She shot back.

"I'll see the three of you in a little bit, okay?" She left.

"Well, now we have a Council meeting to attend." Anakin declared to them.

"We?" Lily asked weakly.

"Yes. The two of you should be there if it's you being discussed, hmm? And I have to give my side of the report." He stared at the overwhelmed faces on the siblings and chuckled. "Come on."

They climbed into a speeder, the center ground of destruction only coming closer.

 **A/N: So, I wasn't able to get out that double update I wanted to, but honestly, I started basketball this past week, and I'm so sore I can't walk properly. Anyway, give me your thoughts on this chapter.**

 **Bye!**


	7. Chapter 7

Usually, riding in a speeder gave time to think and relax. There was no way to do either with Anakin as a driver. When they pulled up in front of the Temple, Luke and Lily were both light-headed and dizzy.

"Do you... _ever..._ think... about...slowing... _down_?" Lily asked, out of breath and panting. Anakin laughed.

"Obi-Wan hates my driving too."

"I don't think that can be called driving," Luke said. "More like seeing if you can tempt death." Anakin laughed again.

"Come on, the Council will want to speak to you sometime today."

"Oh, really now. That's why we broke about fifty traffic laws." Lily muttered.

Anakin led them through the shining hallways. Luke and Lily couldn't help but gape. It looked so different then from what was left. They came to the door.

"Follow my lead, be respectful." Anakin told them. He opened the door and walked to the center of the room and stood there. The siblings stayed behind him to either side.

"Masters, this is Luke and Lily."

"Hmm. Told us the names, Master Kenobi has. Interesting, how you came to be here." Luke and Lily swallowed the lump in their throats at the old Jedi's voice.

"Yes, Master." Lily answered.

"Indeed," Mace Windu said. Despite his words, he would call the insane tale Obi-Wan had delivered anything but 'interesting'. "However, perhaps there are a few missing pieces you could fill in for us. Master Kenobi said it was not his story to tell." They hesitated before looking at each other, shrugging, and Luke answered.

"What do you want to know?"

"Get here, how did you?" Again, they looked at each other before answering.

"We died. And then the Force did something and put us here." Lily said.

"You are Force Sensitive, then?" Another Master asked.

"Yes." Luke answered.

"We've been training off and on for about three or four years." Lily expanded.

"Light. Not any Dark Side." Luke clarified quickly at the Council's suspicious gazes.

"Yet you are both tainted with its mark." Windu said. Lily felt her anger flare.

 _Relax._ Luke told her. She, for the first time in a long time, ignored him.

"Maybe because we spent five months captured by three Sith, or the fact that one of the old artifacts was used on us, or maybe because despite having access to the Force, we are still mortals that feel more than indifference." Luke sighed, and the rest of the room just looked at her.

"You may not be under the control of the Dark Side yet, but anger is the quickest path." A Master said.

"Oh, I wonder why that is." Lily muttered darkly. then louder she said; "Let me spell it out for you. In less than a year, this," She gestured around herself, "All of it, will be gone as you know it, and most of you will be dead, or good as. Now, my brother and I come from that future, and the Force sent us to stop it. Now, if you'd rather that happen than accept help from people who have more darkness in them than you allow, then we'd just sit back and watch if we weren't so close to this already, and the fact that we've been here for even less than two days has made it worse. So you will get your future changed _for you_ , like it or not." Luke looked at her, with a gaze of shock and pride.

"As my sister so delicately put it, if we don't stop it, everyone in this room will die within about twenty-four years." None of the Masters said anything. Luke and Lily looked at each other and then began to turn around.

"Wait." One of them said. Lily smirked. "How does it end?" They turned back.

"From what we know? Fast, at first. Thousands of Jedi die in seconds. Then slowly. It took years, and the last ones just died." Luke answered.

"Who?"

"Us." Lily said. There was a sigh. Yoda spoke up.

"Need, what do you?"

"Nothing, at the moment. That's the thing. We know who, we know when and why, but there's no way to act." Luke paused. "Well, not _yet._ "

"Hmm," The green Master said. "Stay with Knight Skywalker you should. All that you will say, that is?"

"Yes. For now, at least."

"Then do what you must. Follow, we shall." Leaving no room for more discussion, the three Skywalkers left.  
***

Outside the Temple, Anakin started laughing.

"What is it?" Luke asked. There was no answer, just more laughter.

"Okay, seriously, what is it?" Lily asked almost worriedly.

"You! Did you see their faces?" Anakin asked.

"They just sat there." Luke was confused.

"Exactly!" Another bout of laughter. "The Council is never speechless. And your one-sided conversation just did that."

"Oh." Lily looked sheepish. "I just got annoyed and well, there's been a lot of things piled up recently and I guess that was the one push it needed to sort of... spill." Luke joined Anakin in laughter.

"She'd do this all the time, especially when we were younger. Someone would be being stupid or annoying, and they would just poke her, and she would turn around and punch them."

"They deserved it." Lily defended.

"Safe to say, after she broke the third guy's nose, no one messed with her anymore. And when they did, it wasn't pretty." Luke shook his head fondly. Anakin chuckled again.

"Come on. Padme might kill me if we aren't at her apartment soon."  
***

One extremely dangerous ride later, they were outside 500 Republica.

"One more thing, she's um...well..."

"We know." They interrupted him.

"Oh. Is there nothing you don't know?"

"Beyond names, we know basically nothing else helpful, as what we do know has many holes in it. We just know the background stuff." Lily said.

"So you're really just winging this aren't you?" Anakin asked amusedly. They shrugged. "Well, let's go in."

"Ani, how'd the meeting go? Oh, you brought Luke and Lily back too. Good."

"It went well enough. They didn't try to arrest them, at least."

"I think they debated it." Lily pointed out.

"Good thing they didn't." Luke said.

"Yeah," Lily agreed. "Things might have gone a little differently than we want if we had."

"Why?" Padme asked, looking amused.

"We have-" Luke gave her a look. "Fine. _I_ have no self-restraint sometimes and while the unofficial backup plan might work, it would definitely cause some major chaos."

"Oh." Padme laughed a little. "Well, I'm going to start on dinner." She kissed Anakin.

"Would you like any help?" Lily offered.

"That would be lovely, actually." Padme laughed. "Anakin is hopeless in the kitchen."

"So is Luke. Honestly, he burned water once. He wasn't allowed back in." The two women laughed together, leaving Luke with Anakin.

"They're going to be the death of us." Anakin muttered. Luke silently agreed. "Well, I'm going to clean out the spare room. We should have extra beds in there."

"I'll help you." Luke said, feeling the need to do something.

So mother, daughter, father, and son all got a taste of what a family would be like.

 **A/N: So, my schedule is a lot fuller than I thought, so updates are switched to biweekly, and no promises on the day**


	8. Chapter 8

That night, Luke and Lily changed into warm bedclothes and slipped into the small (but ridiculously comfortable) beds Luke and Anakin had set up. It was silent, but not the usual, misplaced silences, filled with tension, grief, and lack of things to say. Now, the silence was more of a welcome embrace, filling the air with the joy, yet nervousness of the task ahead. It was easily the happiest and relaxed they had been in near a year and held onto each passing moment tighter than the last. They knew from experience; times like that didn't seem to stay.

Unlike the happiness, sleep came in restless stretches. Every few hours, Luke or Lily, though it was quite often the latter, would awaken and pace around the room silently wishing for daybreak, and with it, something to do.

When the sun finally did rise, the two siblings had nearly entirely given up on sleep. They had circles under their eyes that didn't seem to widen. Anakin and Padme looked at them in concern.

"Rough sleep?" Anakin asked.

"Sleep? What's that?" Lily said. Luke rolled his eyes at his sister's antics.

"She means yes."

"Here, have some caf." Padme placed two cups down full of the brown liquid. The pair gave their thanks and almost leaped at the cups, sipping carefully.

"Don't want you dead on your feet. After all, we better make sure you are both ready for whatever is to come. In other words, to keep you sharp as possible."

"So, basically training to see how rusty we are?" Lily said.

"Put bluntly, yes." Anakin said.

"You're overseeing it?" Luke asked.

"Essentially. I'm supposed to give tips if I see anything that can be improved on."

"Should probably start. It's been a large gap since we've trained or anything. Well, besides yesterday." Lily made to get up and Luke followed until they were stopped by Padme.

"Not yet you're not. You're skin and bones, both of you. Eat something first. Here." She thrust two pieces of toast into all three Jedi hands. "Then you can go do whatever you need to do."

They sat back down sheepishly and ate what was handed to them in silence. As soon as they were finished, they were out the door.

"Children, all three of them." Padme said fondly.

"Is there any way you'd ever allow one of us to drive?" Lily asked.

"By we, you should mean me. You drive recklessly too." Luke said.

"If I'm physically unable to, go ahead." Luke and Lily gave a dramatic sigh. "Come on, we'll have a training room to ourselves for an hour if we hurry."

"Can't we train anywhere?" Luke asked in confusion.

"Sure, but here we have equipment." Anakin said, walking into the Temple.

The training rooms were deep in the building. Luke and Lily stuck close to Anakin, passing other Jedi. The sensation of so many Force users in one space was both shocking and exhilarating. It was so _much_ all at once, after a lifetime of next-to-nothing.

The rooms themselves were nothing special, just training sabers, droids and helmets like the ones from the days of the Falcon and Obi-Wan, and an open area that Lily presumed was for sparring and actually using the droids. The siblings looked at Anakin.

"Okay, so let's start with sparring. Just the two of you, and then we'll see how well you do against me." Luke and Lily obeyed, moving to the center of the room and igniting the lightsabers.

"Ready?" Luke asked.

"Aren't I always?" Lily retorted. Luke attacked first, lunging. Lily moved out of the way easily. She raised an eyebrow and returned the lunge. It was Luke's turn to scorn.

Anakin watched as the pair seemingly lazily attacked and block, taunting the other silently. It was an interesting tactic, one that spoke of years of knowing the other so intimately nothing could be hidden.

Finally, their blades locked, even for a second, only to separate again. It was brief but started a fight that lasted much longer than Anakin anticipated.

Suddenly, Lily was on her knees and shaking. Luke dropped like a rock next to her, holding her close and stroking her hair.

"It's okay, you're safe. It's over, it's over." He muttered to her.

"What happened?" Anakin asked concernedly.

"Panic attack. Something reminded her of it all." Luke said quietly, gaze never leaving Lily.

"How can you tell so fast? It usually takes time to figure it out, and what to do."

"We've both had our fair share. Hers are more sudden, and she needs physical touch. Something outside of whatever memory she's stuck in." The shaking stopped, and Lily laid still. "There you go. Let go, little sister. It isn't real." Her grip loosened, and her hand fell to their conjoined laps.

"It seems to affect her more." Anakin noticed.

"Whatever she went through might have been more mentally traumatizing. My experience was hard but mostly superficial and physical. Hers, the psychological trauma is what is holding onto her so harshly." He held her a little tighter. "She won't tell me what happened. She never closed herself off like this. We both know it's harder to get through when you do. But when I ask she looks so hurt and in so much pain... I don't want to do that to her." Anakin listened to his soft words, seeing the damage that had been done to Lily.

"You two are close. Closer than most siblings, I think." Luke smiled a bit at that.

"We are. When we were growing up, for a long time we were the only thing we had. Of course, we made friends, but there aren't many people you should associate with on Tatooine, and never knowing our parents let a lot of bully fodder into the mix. Lily was my rock, I was hers. That didn't change, even joining the Rebellion and knowing true evils and true good, meeting people. It didn't change. Not even when Lily got engaged, or we had to fight through a traitor or two. Not when we lost the rest of the people we considered friends."

"You said multiple panic attacks?"

"War and captivity aren't a good mix. Combined with being on the opposite side and Jedi to boot, it's a disaster. Not even to mention the very pricey bounty on our heads. We always got captured together though. Except once."

"We should get her to a bed." Anakin said, pointing out that they were still curled up on the floor.

"Probably." Luke's voice was still quiet and calm as if speaking to a frightened child.

Luke carried her to the med-bay on Anakin's persistent badgering. The droids didn't give them a second glance. He laid her on a bed and sat beside her.

**Future, Lily**

If there was one thing that improved with the changes, it was the fact that Luke, now Praedo, had an actual bed to sleep on, instead of cots or the cold stone floor of a cell. It would have been equally nice to actually be able to sleep.

In the three nights since Lily had died, _murdered_ the little Luke portion of his brain thought, he could probably count on two hands how many hours of sleep he got. He couldn't meditate, his mind split in two between light and dark, and unsure of which to follow. The Dark was everything he had been against, but going back to the Light would mean facing the fact that his best friend in the shape of Lily Skywalker had been killed by his hand. It would mean accepting that he had helped an enemy take down all he had fought for.

He had seen his sister's hand, the one with the ring. He knew that was new overnight and had managed to slip it off. It was hidden now, in a secret drawer in his dresser. It was night, and he was trying desperately to sleep. He'd need as much strength as he could get no matter what he chose.

**In Between (kind of)**

He didn't know what he expected, but it wasn't this.

Sometimes the Force could be so cruel.

He was standing in his old home on Tatooine. It was empty of people, but everything was still there, as if Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen were just out, leaving Luke and Lily alone. He looked at his clothing. It was the simple outfit of most Tatooine boys, not his black get-up. He felt a tug. Whether it was the Force or his heartstrings he couldn't tell. Luke raced to the shared room.

Lily stood there as if they were nineteen again. She wore that old dress that nearly gave Uncle Owen a heart attack, and was gazing sadly out the window. She wasn't there as if she was visiting from beyond the grave, just across planets.

"Hello, Luke." She spoke softly, but it was the clearest thing he had heard in days.

"Lily." He said as if he couldn't quite believe it. "Lily. You-"

"Yes. I died. However, it seems the Force wasn't done with me. It isn't finished with you either, it seems." She smiled slightly as she turned around. Tear tracks were imprinted from her eyes.

"How can you tell?" He asked, genuinely wondering how she managed to interpret this vision.

"You're here, aren't you? And so am I. Meaning you're consciousness is conflicted, but you have made your decision."

"That might be the straightest answer I have ever gotten from a vision." Lily laughed. Luke joined in, and suddenly everything felt okay. "I don't know what to do." Luke admitted.

"I know. But at the same time, you do. You are the last person in the galaxy that can end this, on your end."

"On _my_ end?" Luke asked

"Yeah, turns out the Force can make you do time travel things. And bring people from two different worlds together."

"Lily. Explain."

"So I can sort of tell what sort of past or future we could have had. All of those possibilities are dimensions that hold identical me's and you's and everyone else. When I went back, the Force sent a different you with me, from an almost identical world." Off his confused look, she waved a hand. "Really, it's not important right now. It's for me to worry about."

"So I exist in multiple different versions?"

"Basically. I'm trying to solve the issues in the past while you solve them in the future."

"I also sort of screwed it all up, too."

"Shush

"I didn't say anything!"

"You didn't have to." Lily said. "You've got that regret face, unnecessarily, I might add."

"How? I-"

"No, Luke. It would have happened anyway, sooner or later." The scene before them flickered. "We're out of time. Good luck, Luke."

"Goodbye, Lily."

Luke woke up gently for once, Sith eyes going to blue once more.

**Past**

Lily woke up at the same time, a smirk dancing across her lips.

 _No matter what, Sidious will lose._

**Future, Luke**

The Emperor sat on his throne, hearing a voice whisper through.

 _No matter what, Sidious will lose._ It was the Skywalker girl, the one he had killed first. So, she found a way to stop him, did she?

 _We shall see._

 **A/N: Wow, okay I know it's been way longer than I said, but I didn't have access for several days and I was extremely busy with all sorts of things. Anyway, how was this chapter?**

 **Bye!**


	9. Chapter 9

**So, brief strong language ahead.**

 _There has got to be a way to make all of this so much less confusing._ Lily thought grumpily.

"Lily! Are you okay?" Luke asked.

"Fine. Confused, but fine. What happened?"

"You had a panic attack." Anakin said.

"Ah. That explains the headache then. Why am I in the med-bay then?"

"Anakin overreacted." Luke said. Lily laughed. A shudder ran through her. "Everything alright?" Her answer wasn't one that he expected to hear from her, ever.

"I...don't know."  
***

If there was one way to learn of the certainties and uncertainties of the Force, it was through meditation. It was the best way to learn secrets, that of the Force and of people. Past, present, and future could be conquered. It was the reason Sidious sunk into the meditative state, with a single goal; find out who those children were.

Well, the Force was never known to do things simply. He waited for any hint to pour out, and nothing came. He attempted to attack their minds, but their shields were so strong to prevent a hint of invasion. And yet...

Sidious opened his eyes and gave that smile that always meant doom was near. An older version of himself stood before him.

"It seems the two children are more than meets the eye." The younger one said. "As I presume you know them?"

"Yes. They were killed by my hand. As was their father, and sister." The older one said.

"But they are here now."

"Oh yes. The pair has quite the affinity for the Force. It sent them back. To stop the Empire from forming. They have a... personal tie to it."

"If I succeed, then why are you needed here?"

"They are a tricky set. And the girl has issued a challenge of sorts. I am making sure our side wins."

"They will not stop me from taking the Republic or destroying the Jedi."

"Perhaps. But they will certainly try, especially thwarting you from Anakin Skywalker."

"Why would they care?"

"Their names are Luke and Lily Skywalker. I succeeded in his turn, but they turned him back to the Light, robbing me of my finest apprentice."

"I will not let them."

"See you don't." The older one finished and disappeared.

An identical version came back almost immediately.

"The children are a menace. Destroy them." The speaker was different. He held an air of triumph, as though winning a long fought battle. The vision fled before another word could be spoken.

So, the seemingly small interference was a thorn in his side. No matter, a thorn could be pulled out and burned. Yes, that would be quite effective. And they were Anakin's children? Their birth could prove troublesome... unless... Sidious smirked. Yes, losing an unborn child could drive even the sanest parent insane. With Anakin's mindset, it may be the only thing needed to push him over the edge.

All he had to do was find the mother.  
***

Obi-Wan and Anakin saw the pair likely wanted privacy, so they made an excuse of getting Lily a cup of water or food, and left them.

"Lily, what happened?" Luke asked. Lily began to shake her head. "Don't. Do not give me any 'nothing' crap. Something else happened."

"I'm not sure exactly. I think Sidious may have found out something about us."

"What bit?"

"No idea. The Force didn't tell me if it was the time travel bit or the name bit, or any of the other details."

"How helpful." Luke muttered to himself. The door opened. Anakin and Obi-Wan walked in cautiously to make sure they were done talking before interrupting.

"Great! You're back! Can I leave? I'm okay, promise." The others shook their heads.

"I checked, they'll let you. But if you start to feel dizzy, they want you back in here." Anakin said.

"Nope. I'll suffer instead." Luke laughed. Lily joined in, and soon they were all laughing and all their worries were gone, if only for a moment.  
***

The rest of the day passed remarkably uneventfully. Anakin flat-out refused to let Lily train anymore that day.

"I'm fine." She insisted.

"So? You had a panic attack, and I'm saying sleep is going to happen before you try to train again." Lily looked to Luke with an almost pleading look.

"Don't look at me. I told you that too."

"Fine!" She threw her hands up dramatically. Luke sighed.

"The only thing worse than Lily in a bad mood is Lily when bored."

"Hey! I heard that!"  
***

The pair slept side by side, unwilling to let the other go too far. A vision started for them both. It was the same room they were in but gave off a different feel to it. They both sat up.

"How did you manage it? Having two sets of memories is screwing me up." Han said from his spot leaning at the door and walked closer.

"Han?" Luke asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah. Didn't I mention that bit?" Lily said.

"No?" Lily shrugged.

"I meant too." Luke glared. "Oops?"

"I swear, you don't change. At all." Luke opened his mouth to say something. "And Luke, if you start trying to apologize, so help me..." He promptly closed it.

"So, something tells me this isn't just a casual visit."

"Mmm. How'd you guess?" Han's voice didn't require an answer, but one was provided anyway.

"Because we aren't that lucky." Luke said.

"No, you aren't. If you were, The Emperor, or Sidious, or whatever his name is, wouldn't be alerted to your existence." Luke and Lily immediately stood up in alarm.

"What?" They both exclaimed.

"You realize how much danger that puts you in?"

"I think we have a basic idea." Luke said.

"No. No you don't. Because he doesn't just know you exist, he knows exactly who you are."

"Oh shit"

"Exactly. "

"Do you know how?" Lily asked.

"He-" Han disappeared, and the siblings woke.

 _"Oh SHIT."_ They both said.

"So, do we have a way of hiding ourselves or something?" Luke asked. Lily frowned.

"That won't work. If we suddenly disappear off the map then it will look more suspicious and we might be easier to find. No, we don't hide. Hell, we might even try to look submissive and try to not look like a threat."

"Do you think he'd fall for that?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. But if it doesn't then, well," She grinned a very dangerous smile, "We show him just how big of a threat we can be."

"You're absolutely terrifying sometimes." Lily just grinned again.

"Have to keep everyone guessing somehow, don't I? Come on, it's still the middle of the night and we do still need to train."

"I don't want you to-"

"Panic again? Luke, if I don't keep going like normal, it won't get better. I know how that works by now."

"I know, I know, I just... Hate seeing you like that. You're always so strong and to see you vulnerable is so wrong to me." Lily didn't know how to reply to that.

"Sleep." She said instead. There was nothing else said.

 **A/N: So this has been several months late for...several months. I am sorry, but life has sort of decided to try to screw me over so this was not working the way I wanted it too. To be honest, I actually have no idea how I'm going to get where I want to be, so we're all along on a pretty unpredictable ride here. Bye!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks to 1saaa for letting me know that it turned into code. Hopefully it doesn't do it again. Enjoy!**

 _Something was burning. She turned around. All of Coruscant seemed to be covered in the haze of smoke._

 _The Temple was on fire. Screams sounded from all around, and Lily spun to try to pinpoint the sounds. They focused in at the Temple._

 _"It's a dream. And I've already died once, so what can really happen?" She took off running to the building holding screams and flames. As she ran, the Temple stayed the same distance, and the ground beneath her shifted. The screams morphed to shouting. The ground broke._

 _She tried to let out a shriek of surprise before the noise caught in her throat. She landed behind two figures, their faces blurred. There was fire and lava, and darkness. Such strong darkness she only felt in one before._

 _Darth Vader._

 _This was her father's fall. This was the final string. They were floating on pieces above the river that spelled death clearly. She heard the second man, the one she knew must be Obi-Wan, shout at Ana-Vader._

 _"YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE! IT WAS SAID THAT YOU WOULD DESTROY THE SITH, NOT JOIN THEM! BRING BALANCE TO THE FORCE, NOT LEAVE IT IN DARKNESS! " Lily could feel the pain. The bond the pair had shared shattered like glass._

 _The ground fell again and she was to distracted to tell if the way her stomach lurched was from falling or from the scene that had played._  
 _***_

Lily did not start awake, as one normally does after a nightmare, but she stayed still, as though trying not to alert anyone else to her presence. In a way she was, but things were wrong. Very wrong. For one, the bed she had fallen asleep on had transported itself to her time, where she should be dead. There was also the slight fact that Luke was nowhere in sight. The third part was perhaps more alarming. Sidious was near. And it was the cell where she had spent several months.

"Kriff." She muttered, not entirely certain if this was reality or not. She felt at her waist where her lightsaber should have been but was met with nothing but air and cloth. This did nothing to ease her rising panic.

She fell to the floor suddenly, a burst of pain running through her. Where she had been stabbed looked as though the wound just happened, instead of the scar it had become. She let out a cry of pain as the old wounds reopened again, all of the ones she had received in that same building.

"Yes... channel your hate, your pain. It will make you strong..." She heard Sidious hiss in her ear. She stood. She wouldn't let him win. Not this time. He intensified the pain. She gasped and stumbled, leaning on the stone wall for support.

"I'm good, thanks." She gritted out. A cruel laugh pierced her ears. More wounds reopened and stung. She fell again, curled into herself to escape the pain and noises. She focused on the cold wall until she felt them closing in.

"Are you sure, little Jedi?" Sidious taunted. Lily whimpered as the walls moved closer and the pain intensified. Sidious cackled. Lightning shot from his palms and surrounded the curled body on the floor. Lily didn't resist as a scream tore through her throat.

It stopped. The walls went back to normal, and the wounds went to their healing state.

"I will give you a choice, Skywalker. Stay out of my way, and you will not meet such a painful demise twice. Do not, and I will make it worse. Understand?" Lily nodded weakly. "Good." As a final warning, he took a lightsaber, Luke's green one, she recognized, and sliced across her middle, only deep enough to scar and hurt.

This time, when she woke, it was sudden.  
***

It seemed neither father nor daughter would be free from nightmares that night. Anakin got up, still shaking slightly from his own dream.

Anakin, help me!

His angel's voice still rang in his ears.

Padme walked to her husband, knowing he was worried about something.

"Anakin? What's bothering you?"

"Nothing." He responded quickly. Padme frowned. He touched the japor snippet hanging from her neck and tried to seem okay. "I remember when I gave this to you."

"Anakin, how long is it going to take us to be honest with each other?" He sighed.

"It was a dream."

"Bad?" Padme asked.

"Like the ones I had about my mother before she died."

"And?" She pressed gently.

"It was about you." He reached her eyes reluctantly.

"Tell me."

"You die in childbirth."

"And the baby?"

"I don't know." Both husband and wife were concerned now.

"It was only a dream." Padme tried to reassure.

"I won't let this one become real." They held on to each other for a few moments before separating.

"Anakin, this baby will change our lives." She said. "I doubt the Queen will continue to allow me to serve in the Senate, and if the Council discovers you are the father, you will be expelled from the Jedi Order."

"I know." He sounded weary as if he had already gone to this train of thought for hours.

"Do you think Obi-Wan would be able to help us?" Anakin went stiff.

"Have you told him anything?" Suspicion was clouding his logic.

"No, but he has to suspect something. He's your mentor, your best friend!"

"He's still on the Council. Don't tell him anything."

"Alright, I won't." She sounded tired and resigned to secrecy that neither one wanted.

"Our baby is a blessing, not a problem. I don't need his help."

"Alright," Padme said. "I'm going to go back to bed. You should too."

"In a minute, Angel. I just need to clear my head." Padme nodded and walked away.

Lily walked toward him now.

"You awake too?" He asked her.

"Nightmare. Couldn't go back to sleep yet. You?"

"The same." Lily studied him.

"You're afraid of losing her, aren't you?" Anakin turned around.

"What did you hear?"

"Nothing. I could just tell. When you found out you were worried about both of your futures. It only makes sense that you'd be worried for her."

"It's not that simple." He said.

"What is it?"

"I had a vision of her when she has the baby. She dies. I can't let it happen."

"You don't know it will."

"Yes, I do!" His anger swelled, then cooled. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Anakin. And as for losing her, you can't know because things change. Easily. There are hundreds of different outcomes, especially for one that is centered on someone dying."

"How do you know that?"

"I've seen them. A lot of them at least, and it probably isn't even half."

"Please, tell me what happens to her."

"I can't. It can change so quickly. What I do know, is that sometimes trying to change the future is what makes it come true. I know that when Luke and I got a vision of our friends in trouble and in pain, our rushing to fix it is what made it happen."

"And if it isn't the case?"

"I think you know. Get some sleep, Anakin.


	11. Chapter 11

p data-p-id="6b68e4782e5995fdc2f8270391af47e5"**Future, Lily**/p  
p data-p-id="72170c2ecb6d4d2749b3e651d9c2a6e9"Luke woke and looked outside. It was still dark, though the morning was closing in. He walked to his mirror and focused on turning his blue eyes to yellow-gold. It was a task he had perfected because if even a hint of blue shined through, he would be killed or tortured back to darkness. And he couldn't let Lily down again. /p  
p data-p-id="1fa8300eaecbc033edded7c386a9e056""Praedo," Ruby called, "The Emperor is calling a meeting." /p  
p data-p-id="de2081ef5c47562c33ee223e1da9386d""I'll be right down." He told her./p  
p data-p-id="0e6050cbd74091d7139dbf6b38f8054d"He changed quickly into the sleeky black clothes he had been given. They were expensive, fitted, and very nice. He hated them. He went down to the /***/p  
p data-p-id="ef5a1239a6592f2bc3dbb3412a053605""Ah, Praedo. You slept well, I trust?" His father-Vader-whoever- asked. He had acted more parently after Lily's death. He hated that, too./p  
p data-p-id="6f196530317c1c9e8d45642d2c8a789c""Yes, Father." They walked together the rest of the way./p  
p data-p-id="d61e0a8379811573096ca7eafa998e1a""Young Praedo, Lord Vader." Sidious greeted. Luke hated his voice, how smooth and slick it was. /p  
p data-p-id="87e024720d8ad0b6912fa721e2cdaa81""Master." They both bowed. He hated the way his spine bent in servitude to this monster./p  
p data-p-id="e2e9efd7a3b82a233f2cf6cc8e3c55e1""Young Praedo, I have a mission for you. Your... change in loyalties has not yet spread, and there are rumors of a rebel outpost in the Outer Rim. I am sending you in alone to handle it. Your father believes your training far enough along to handle it."/p  
p data-p-id="a6b4f62234a5cd2394bb90850dc84765""Thank you, Master. I will do as you ask," He bit back the bitter retort. Ask, as if Sidious knew how to. He hated the way his voice sounded, accepting praise and orders. "When do I leave?"/p  
p data-p-id="e5d0f6dfa84896cba34f45788a025c8f""Within the hour. Go prepare." Luke bowed once more and left./p  
p data-p-id="94ba8534a2c63afb3a3f8fc67086e3c5"A mission. A solo mission, nonetheless. To take out a rebel base. Could it be more perfect? All he had to do was be careful. It couldn't be too difficult, to sneak in and persuade them. They could build up the Rebellion again, and this time, they would win. And Luke would not fail. He would not hesitate./p  
p data-p-id="b0e0346e8977062b57d5b8a0ab2aea7e"For /**Past**/p  
p data-p-id="ddef0124cffaafb7f752e8e5d8ced825"Block. Block. Strike. Dodge./p  
p data-p-id="e2932b63074eb210298872232c9b28be"Luke and Lily were sparring again. Luke seemed to think that after Lily's panic attack he needed to be gentler, and Lily was set on proving him wrong. /p  
p data-p-id="f7c1f5adad7e5ce8472cf2d557d8f950"Block. Strike. Dodge and spin. Strike./p  
p data-p-id="63f6d1d6a64e3e8851fafe7d0a73866a"She pretended to be put off balance and fell. Luke raised an eyebrow./p  
p data-p-id="8b85131cea8eae30ea96502be5b83615""Yield?" He asked. /p  
p data-p-id="a69f53676b21b0e336495b199e102357""Why would I?" She swung her legs and tripped him. They both rolled away and got up, rushing back in. Lily bit back her glee./p  
p data-p-id="be7e22bd473b38bcf0d35e27ce000363"Anakin, who had been watching for the entire fight, rolled his eyes. Obi-Wan walked into the training room./p  
p data-p-id="e9faf4c4c6af30275d0edfc126fd089c""How long have they been going?" He asked Anakin./p  
p data-p-id="ecf6a08dd4d85d564e21364a79891698""A good half an hour by now. They don't look close to stopping either." The pair's lightsabers locked again. "Alright, you two. I think that's enough for today. Don't need to get either of you injured again." They stepped away from each other and grinned. The hum of lightsabers ended./p  
p data-p-id="a94b9496a8d4b199e7b915375c3c982b""The Council has questions, for the two of you. Lily, please, try not to completely offend them today." Obi-Wan said./p  
p data-p-id="ea4ca6c81fd0b2a86dcfc3e87d17aec9""Aren't you on the Council?" Luke asked. Anakin stifled a laugh. /p  
p data-p-id="b8073f342ba097ea54e2842fa1c831cd""That's why I said them, not us. I trained Anakin, after all." Luke chuckled at that. Anakin made an indignant noise./p  
p data-p-id="80761871bee740ab550604da3e60a555""I make no promises," Lily said. Luke covered a snort with a cough. /p  
p data-p-id="556b4375cfd978c53ee8311684029aad""When do they want them?" Anakin asked./p  
p data-p-id="89a3381c383e0cb10c02233089503dc2""Preferably now. They are aware you aren't very busy at the moment." Obi-Wan answered. /p  
p data-p-id="e38d3735dfd20261cbfc4ac268162e57"Lily sighed. "I don't suppose they can be postponed for an hour?" /p  
p data-p-id="1733425a0bb83f521c885261f79e20f7""Lily no," Luke said./p  
p data-p-id="58adf40036753d157eee9cd7fa2aed16""What?" Obi-Wan asked. /p  
p data-p-id="bd3f18bd87b2014b01b4f698231823a7""Well, time is needed for a dramatic, insulting speech." Lily grinned, Luke rolled his eyes. /p  
p data-p-id="2136640f63d3c217e840feef90de5bc4""I'm afraid they were insistent."/p  
p data-p-id="cdc8fb670dcf6255a0046f3f23fc856d""Next time, then."br /***/p  
p data-p-id="c9fbfc3fea374c443971d2f305731908"So they took the five-minute walk through the temple to get to the Council Room. Obi-Wan took his chair. Luke and Lily did the customary bows, though cautiously./p  
p data-p-id="d6a7f4449e861223f3990fb7daa0b4b5""Questions we have, for the two of you," Yoda said./p  
p data-p-id="8bf9d373ddf5dc673dbfd84d66157f80""We heard," Luke said before Lily could say anything. "We will answer the best we can."/p  
p data-p-id="661c5b896fe4fb267f39a8bee9f89c4a""Control your sister, though. I do not believe we need another outburst." A Master Lily couldn't remember the name of said. Neither sibling liked him very much, just from that./p  
p data-p-id="8d404bbcc3cdc38972d150ed738d7390""Lily does not need to be controlled," Luke said, slightly losing composure. "I'm sure that anything she says has a good point and should not be taken lightly."/p  
p data-p-id="f8b377be7a9c89e6727a4262f73f03b7"Thanks, Luke. Lily said to him silently. Aloud, she said, "Now all that's out of the way, what do you want to know?"/p  
p data-p-id="142c98fbd6accfef67dc4e5ba6903925""Know our fates, you do?" Yoda asked. Lily stiffened. /p  
p data-p-id="362d8c012cc3bec3a21ffef16f7dec1a""Yes, Master Yoda," Luke said. He looked worriedly at Lily, who's eyes glazed over slightly. He sent reassurance through their bond./p  
p data-p-id="226e740fc74afe4f537035296dabaabf""What happens to us?" A Master Lily recognized as Shaak Ti asked. Screams from the Jedi Purge echoed in her mind. She took in a staggering breath and winced./p  
p data-p-id="3ca054f5eb2180408aa37348985cf355""Lily?" Luke asked her quietly, as if afraid to scare her off./p  
p data-p-id="590c38155534e5061f030eb75998ca5f""Sometimes-sometimes it's better to not know." She spoke quietly, a shift from the confident, cocky girl that spoke before. /p  
p data-p-id="78b37ff963cfee098c4f228fe595c21c""I think that would be our decision." An arrogant Master said./p  
p data-p-id="4d58d13f84ed77f775ce1fbc34617765""Not in this case." Lily allowed her voice to raise slightly./p  
p data-p-id="5fef7c44e0eab8121b1c0e6e94bf312b""Who are you to say?" One asked./p  
p data-p-id="8e032c71cbc7e0c7096646c31b1e4265""I have watched this galaxy burn itself to ashes a thousand times. When you have seen the same, you can tell me if I'm emqualified/em." Lily retorted bitterly./p  
p data-p-id="ae1f235987dbf870a54bb84fc435a867""I thought you were asked to control your sister, boy." The master said. Lily's anger raised further. /p  
p data-p-id="fbf260b8c598aca80dab426b03171876""Why, Master. If I didn't know better I'd say you were afraid. But that can't be, because fear leads to the dark side. Sounds rather hypocritical to me." Her voice was a dare. A challenge. One that any person would be insane to take her up on, Luke thought. He knew from experience. This Master though did not./p  
p data-p-id="99f2c360d462967838ed49568aa34f3b""I'll take it you do not feel the same?" He was good, Luke thought, to ask it in a way that sounded harmless and curious. But Lily was good, too. The kind of good that came with trust and betrayal, the kind surviving interrogations with higher consequences./p  
p data-p-id="b23c9320506158eb8248e851719f538c""No. I don't." However, Luke supposed, that didn't mean she always knew when to not continue. "Fear is what keeps you alive. Fear tells you it's a bad idea to jump off a starship." Lily took a breath. "Fear tells who to trust, fear tells you when something goes wrong. Fear is the only reason we can survive because, without it, people would do whatever they felt like without worrying about the consequences. So no, I cannot believe that fear is a bad thing when I survived only because of it." /p  
p data-p-id="36add20da3444395b79ed911a138e6c4""You sound like you have already fallen to the darkness." emThat's... got nothing... to do with this/em. Luke thought./p  
p data-p-id="5d08a69be201a8217edbca72fee7227c""There's a good chance of that. Or if it hasn't happened yet, then it might still. But," Lily's eyes flashed dangerously. "I won't go down without dragging whoever necessary to protect the ones I love with me." /p  
p data-p-id="dc2e9ed0b4a9d4de4333ae7fd31aac37""No matter who that may be?" A different Master said. Lily turned to her. Luke was surprised to see regret./p  
p data-p-id="7280c1d6a07d71c5cda3f917fb576861""I don't think you want me to answer that, Master. You wouldn't like the answer." /p  
p data-p-id="cdfc5cec9f7f0742945ca15359dc8d65""Talk, I think the Council needs to. Outside, please wait." Yoda said. Luke and Lily bowed and left./p  
p data-p-id="1b5fb3913cc28b037ebfcc3fe9d3c83f""I'll stay with them," Anakin said. /p  
p data-p-id="76dce2fd94b9640cc95f7ca28f5b024f""No. Here, you should stay."br /***/p  
p data-p-id="be78524c5cfc7854fb739c0c2409b59a"Lily paced. She knew the Council really wouldn't like her now. Aunt Beru had always said stress made her tongue sharper than a vibro-knife and her mind numb. It made her less careful of what she said. /p  
p data-p-id="ca4d220f70197e1f73abd2d689c0523f""That wasn't fair of them. They saw how much pain it caused you. They- it wasn't fair."/p  
p data-p-id="ded9538db0670b5add9393fac6709909""That's why they did it. To see how far I can bend." Her voice cracked, and it broke Luke's heart. "They had no right. No right, Luke." /p  
p data-p-id="c383e4e6275e9d694244b6fc709fb78c""No, they didn't." He agreed. Tears started slipping down her face. Luke pulled her close. He held her there as the tears kept coming. br /***/p  
p data-p-id="bc69653d9181520a38ec40cff9f8f38a"They heard the door open. Lily quickly wiped her face and took a few deep breaths to compose herself. Anakin and Obi-Wan came out./p  
p data-p-id="d4a3397f7877ec6788b74204a34dc2f4""Master Yoda wants to talk to Lily alone," Obi-Wan said. /p  
p data-p-id="6a9d31660dbd169e4bde95b79996c800""No. I'm going to be there," Luke said. /p  
p data-p-id="8aec9f979fe37bf7260df5fe6019f22b""I don't like it either, Luke, but he was insistent." A few Masters walked out, and while the door was open, they could hear the shouting from inside./p  
p data-p-id="c4019d0dad3f4f03c0ceb49632bc1d7c""-Nothing about her-"/p  
p data-p-id="1b0b7cfa6fe2b440debfdca15e24eced""-could be dangerous-"/p  
p data-p-id="c54d59fc5847469965940758d39420a8""-a spy-" The door closed./p  
p data-p-id="c586b73c10e9c3f5d7fa1764bde1ba3e""I'll take that their opinion of me gets worse by the minute?" She asked. Her tone was light, but her words less so./p  
p data-p-id="608d8ff24f7466ceb86d59671bb881ce""Not necessarily, you're just challenging them more than anyone else dared." Anakin said./p  
p data-p-id="f306a997bf0e6b830a659a9acb7aa3c8""The last person to vocally think your way was my Master, Qui-Gon Jinn. He was both disliked and respected by the Council." Obi-Wan said./p  
p data-p-id="9f7c7d1cfdf85ad347e2a7b0dc41c7ad"The rest of the Masters finally left, and Lily took a deep breath. She looked at Luke, who looked equally distressed, but tried to look reassuring./p  
p data-p-id="3a4518622296a1bc704337f224316363"emLily, if it gets too much, get out of there. I'll come in if I have to./em/p  
p data-p-id="f1a48d99aeca5b093cb388679aeba2dc"emDon't worry, I'm sure it'll be fine./em/p  
p data-p-id="360feea5a9259c27e0f286613dbe57dc"She walked in./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="360feea5a9259c27e0f286613dbe57dc"strongI'm sorry it took so long/strong/p 


End file.
